Ohio at Perryville

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Saturday, May 25, 2019

Frederick
John Mayer may have the least notable Civil War career of any colonel buried in Spring Grove. He served as colonel of the 6th Ohio Volunteer Militia* from September 14th until October 2nd, 1862, during the threat to Cincinnati due to the Confederate invasion of Kentucky that summer, and having taken over that position from Colonel Theodore Haffner, who had served in the 9th Ohio (three months). Mayer, born in Stuttgart on February 10th, 1822, had a more impressive civilian career, serving as Hamilton County commissioner, 1862-64, then as postmaster of Cincinnati, 1864-66, and as Hamilton County treasurer, 1871-72. He was also a saddler, most likely prior to the war.

Mayer died on June 22nd, 1882. One can find his grave location in Section 22, Lot 42, but his exact location is unmarked. Another potential project for the local Sons of Union Veterans camp.

*From Ohio Civil War Central - On September 2, 1862, Major General Lew Wallace, the commanding officer of United States soldiers in Cincinnati, issued an order, requiring each city councilman to organize the adult males in his respective city ward into one hundred-man militia companies. The city eventually provided Wallace with three regiments or thirty companies of men, with the first one being the 6th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Militia, plus a company of cavalry and an artillery battery.

On September 10, 1862, the 6th crossed the Ohio River and took up a position near Fort Mitchell in Kentucky. Smith's Confederates withdrew on September 12, prompting officials to order the 6th to return to Cincinnati on September 13. The organization spent the next few weeks performing garrison and provost-guard duty in the city, before being discharged from service on October 4, 1862.

On July 5, 1866, the United States Congress authorized payment for the members of the 6th Regiment equal to one-month's pay during the Civil War. To legally process the payments, the federal government had to muster the 6th Regiment into the regular service. Officials mustered the regiment into and out of service on November 8, 1866, with the official in-date being September 2, 1862 and the out-date being October 3, 1862.

Friday, May 24, 2019

Stanley
Matthews is likely more known for his civilian career than his Civil War efforts, having served in the Ohio senate prior to the war, and in the United States senate after the war, before becoming an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1881-1889. Born on July 21st, 1824 in Cincinnati, Matthews attended Woodward High School and graduated from Kenyon College in 1840.

His Civil War career began as the lieutenant colonel of the 23rd Ohio (of Hayes and McKinley fame), and then he became colonel of the 51st Ohio on October 23rd, 1861 when the previous colonel resigned. He served as provost marshal of Nashville from February to June, 1862. Matthews was nominated for a brigadier generalship in April, 1862, but the nomination was tabled by the U.S. Senate and Matthews never received his commission. Matthews would hold brigade commands from July, 1862 through April, 1863, when he resigned on the 11th of that month to accept office of superior court judge in Cincinnati.

Matthews would die on March 22nd, 1889 in Washington D.C. He is buried in Section 36, Lot 106.

Thursday, May 23, 2019

Philander Parmele Lane was born in Nassau, New York, on October 5th, 1821. Prior to the Civil War he was an iron worker and machinist. He would be commissioned as captain of Company K of the 11th Ohio, where he would cause a bit of a ruckus by preferring charges against the 11th's colonel, Charles A. DeVilliers. The latter would be dismissed for habitually abusing officers under his command, fraudulently obtaining monies from the regimental sutler, and seizing goods from citizens. Lane would become colonel of the 11th on September 17th, 1862 as a result of the Battle of Antietam. Lane would lead the regiment at Chickamauga, and resign on October 26th, 1863 due to business concerns.

Lane after the war would be a manufacturer of engines and milling machinery. He would die on December 6th, 1899 in Norwood. He is buried in Section 22, Lot 67 at Spring Grove.

Lane would be the subject of a rather large book published in 1920 that focuses mostly on his Civil War experiences.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Colonel Robert
Kirkup was born in Scotland on August 18th, 1831. He helped organize the Cincinnati Independent Highland Guards, which became part of the 5th Ohio. He became second lieutenant in the 5th Ohio (three months at Camp Harrison on April 20th, 1861 and then three years at Camp Dennison on June 10th). He was promoted to captain of Company D on August 2nd, 1862, and while serving as captain received a gunshot wound in his left arm at the Battle of Cedar Mountain. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on September 26th, 1864, and then became colonel on July 25th, 1865. Kirkup participated in some of the most notable battles of the war, including Port Republic, Antietam, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain, and throughout the Atlanta Campaign, and Bentonville.

Kirkup lived until April 11th, 1925 when he passed away in Avondale. In civilian life he was a brass finisher and then a brass foundry operator. He is buried in Section 73, Lot 182 in an unmarked grave, providing yet another opportunity for the Sons of Union Veterans to mark his grave.

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

John
Kennett was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, on March 9th, 1809, his father being involved with the United States Embassy. Kennett would pass away on December 12th, 1898 in Avondale, a suburb of Cincinnati.

He attended at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and prior to the war was a tobacco agent. After the war he was an insurance agent. His son was a brevet brigadier general (Henry G. Kennett, also buried in Spring Grove).

John Kennett was colonel of the 4th Ohio Cavalry from August 30th, 1861. He would command the Cavalry Division of the Army of the Ohio and then in the 14th Army Corps. He resigned his commission on January 23rd, 1863 due to physical debility caused by a "stricture of the urethra of long standing, that has given rise to chronic cystitis and organic disease of the kidneys."

Monday, May 20, 2019

William
Graham Jones was a U.S. Army regular prior to the war, having served as a second lieutenant in the 10th U.S. Infantry as of December 29th, 1860 after graduating from West Point in the Class of 1860. He was taken prisoner at San Antonio, Texas on May 8th, 1861 and was exchanged on February 20th, 1862. He become an acting aide-de-camp to General Andrew Porter, and then lieutenant colonel of the 71st Pennsylvania on June 18th. He resigned his commission on September 4th, 1862, stating "in consideration of the fact that I am not now in command of the regiment, Col. Wistar having joined." He became acting aide-de-camp on the staff of Major General Edwin Sumner, the Colonel of the 36th Ohio on April 18th, 1863. He was captain of the 10th U.S. Infantry on June 1st, 1863.

Jones would suffer a gunshot wound to the pelvis at the battle of Chickamauga on September 19th, 1863 which would prove to be mortal.

Jones was a native Cincinnatian, born on February 23rd, 1837. He is buried in Section 47, Lot 83.